For many smokers, the glass hand pipe is the go-to smoking tool. It doesn’t require you to roll or fill it with water and you can carry it wherever you go. As such, it’s important to find a hand pipe that suits your interests and needs. Here are your options:
Spoon
The spoon (sometimes referred to a a “bowl”) is the design most people associate with hand pipes. Most spoons have round bowls connected to a straight neck. They generally have carburetor holes on the left side of their bowls that are used to regulate airflow, which works by holding your finger on them while lighting and inhaling, then letting after a few seconds. The shape of the bowl allows for easy packing and offers a comfortable grip. They also tend to be easy to lay down on flat surfaces due to their flat bottoms.
Sherlock
Sherlock pipes are named after their curved necks and wide bowls, which are reminiscent of the type of pipe used by fictional English detective Sherlock Holmes. The curvature of these pipes makes them extremely comfortable, as you can light and smoke them without craning your neck downward. They have bowls similar to spoon pipes and also have side carburetors. A variation of the sherlock pipe is the Gandalf pipe, which has an extremely long curved neck.
Steamroller
Steamrollers are long and straight pipes that get their name from their resemblance to train pipes. Steamrollers have carburetor holes on the front end of the tube and either have an indented bowl on the shaft or sometimes a separate funnel bowl (similar to ancient Native American “peace pipes). These pipes are known for producing stronger hits than other hand pipes due to the “shotgun” effect that quickly funnels smoke into the mouth. The slim shape also makes these pipes easy to store in pockets or other tight spaces.
Chillum
Chillums are the simplest of hand pipes: they are pipes that end in a bowl, similar to a pre-rolled cone. Once loaded, you smoke a chillum like you would a cigarette with the lighter in front of the tobacco. Particularly small chillums are called one-hitters due to holding about one-inhale’s worth of tobacco. For those who like to conserve their tobacco/herb and keep their tolerance low, the chillum is often the most economical choice. Many people use containers called “dugouts” with their one hitter chillums (called “bats”) that have two cylindrical compartments. One compartment is for the chillum and the other can hold tobacco/herb. To load the chillum, all you would need to do is push it down into the tobacco/herb compartment and pull it out. For dabbers, there are also wax bat chillums that you can heat with a torch and take a dab off of.
Now that you’ve been properly educated, check out our site for your choice of hand pipes!
